This invention relates generally to pet feeding systems, and more particularly to pet feeding systems for multiple pet households; the invention allows access to food contained in a pet feeder only when a unique signal is detected by a transceiver positioned in the pet feeder.
Pet owners having one or more cats or dogs often find that making sure each of their animals receives a healthy amount of food every day can present a significant challenge. For instance, pet owners will often find that they have one pet who prefers to eat small, frequent meals throughout the day and another pet who will eat all of the food placed before him in one sitting. In addition, in multi-pet households, it is not uncommon for less than all of the pets to be on special diets, or for different pets to be on different special diets. To ensure that each pet eats a healthy amount of food each day, and/or only eats the correct type of food, many multiple pet owners have to monitor the feedings of their pets, which can be inconvenient and time consuming. Monitored feedings have also been found to cause behavioral problems, such as anorexia and competitive eating syndrome, in some pets. Therefore, a pet feeding system that limits each pet""s access to food to a particular feeding dish would find considerable use in multi-pet homes.
The present invention is directed to overcoming one or more of the problems set forth above.
In one aspect of the present invention, a pet feeding system includes a feeding dish having at least one food compartment. An electrical actuator is connected to the feeding dish. A control unit which is operably coupled to a base transceiver and the electrical actuator is connected to the feeding dish. The base transceiver is also connected to the feeding dish and is operably coupled to the electrical actuator and the control unit, and is capable of receiving a unique electromagnetic signal. A transmitter is disconnected from the feeding dish. A lid containing one or more covers which are operably coupled to the electrical actuator and connected to the feeding dish is also included. The one or more covers are movable perpendicular to a vertical axis between a closed position and an open position, wherein the cover is moved toward the open position when the base transceiver receives the unique electromagnetic signal. The at least one food compartment is inaccessible when its corresponding cover is in the closed position and accessible when the cover is in the open position. A plurality of vent holes are included on each cover and are sized and arranged to prevent feeding access to the at least one food compartment, while still allowing sensory access to the compartment.
In another aspect of the present invention, a method of feeding pets includes a pet feeding system that includes a pet feeding dish having at least one food compartment, a lid (with an opening corresponding in size to the food compartment) movably attached to the pet feeding dish, a transceiver connected to the pet feeding dish and a transmitter that is disconnected from the pet feeding dish. The lid is initially positioned in a closed position in which the at least one food compartment is inaccessible because the corresponding opening is not positioned over the food compartment. The lid is moved toward an open position in which the corresponding opening is directly over the food compartment, when the transmitter is inside of a predetermined range. When the transmitter is outside of the predetermined range, the lid is moved toward the closed position.